Following Syracuse’s loss to Maryland in the NCAA ¬†women’s lacrosse championship game, most of the Orange athletes are entering the offseason. Syracuse’s first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference has come to a close. But just how successful were a lot of the teams this year? Let‚Äôs take a look across all Orange sports at how Syracuse fared in its ACC debut.¬†¬†¬†
Football
If postseason wins are what define a successful season (and that‚Äôs always what‚Äôs echoed when the Big Dance comes around in March, at least), then Syracuse football was a pretty successful team this year. It’s the only team to find success‚Äîhowever different the postseason for football is, comparatively‚Äîdefeating Minnesota 21-17 in the Texas Bowl Dec. 27. But despite closing a 7-6 season with a two-game winning streak and seeing four former players join NFL teams this year, recruiting still remains a concern for the team, as quality over quantity becomes a concern.
All eyes will be on quarterback Terrel Hunt and the offense as the Orange moves through the preseason. That’s valid: the Orange defense had to step in several times this season when the offense fumbled. A lack of productive receivers is cause for concern, especially as this year’s roster has only hopefuls, and no surefire producers.
As ACC competition grows more intense across all sports, you can bet that home matchups against Louisville and Florida State—back-to-back, by the way—and that away game in Death Valley at Clemson will be brutal tests for the Orange. Don’t sleep on Wake Forest and NC State, or the matchup with Notre Dame, either.
The takeaway: Scott Shafer has the right mindset, and at least the indefatigable energy, to keep rebuilding the program. We’ll see if #hardnosed catches on.  It’s a matter of tireless recruiting and tapping into a population always counting down for when the turf in the Dome becomes the hard court.
 
Basketball
Women’s Basketball:
The Orange got its first-ever NCAA tournament win over Chattanooga. That’s also when star player Brittney Sykes went down with a knee injury. They lost the following week versus no. 3 Kentucky, finishing 23-10 in the Orange’s sixth appearance in the postseason. Success next year largely depends on Sykes’ rehabilitation, but the Orange should fare well enough with Briana Day and Brianna Butler.
The takeaway: A solid year, but it has a long way to go before opponents fear the ladies in Orange.
Men’s Basketball:
25-0. Jerami Grant’s put-back dunk. 25-0. Tyler Ennis and that buzzer-beater. 25-0. Trevor Cooney ices those threes. 25-0.
And then came a slow walk instead of a sprint into the postseason, and a tough loss to Dayton that ended the memories of the overtime win against Duke, of Ennis’s clutch, intelligent play, and the hope that CJ Fair would go out in his senior season with a ring on his finger.
It finished the regular season 28-4, with a dominating 14-4 record in a competitive ACC. Unfortunately, the team was ranked higher than its talent (though let’s savor that #1 national ranking), and, similar to men’s lacrosse, kept its wins very, very close—Cardiac ‘Cuse indeed. The team was often, if esoterically, criticized at times for both “playing to its competition” and “not playing a full two halves.”
The Orange will enter next season with the same uncertainty it had entering this past season‚Äîand hey, it wasn’t totally awful. Losing Fair,¬†Grant¬†and¬†Ennis stings, but jack-of-all-trades Michael Gbinije and senior leader Rakeem Christmas return, as does the sometimes-hot, sometimes-cold Cooney. Unproven talents BJ Johnson, Tyler Roberson and Ron Patterson will get a chance to showcase, as Syracuse kept it a little too close in most games this year for any of them to see significant‚Äîif any‚Äîminutes. DaJuan Coleman returns from injury and Chinonso Obokoh can hit the court.¬† Oh, and then there are the new guys: Kaleb Joseph and Chris McCullough.
The takeaway: Hey, Duke lost first.  
Lacrosse
Women’s Lacrosse:
The bandwagon was fun, wasn’t it? These women are a truly talented group, led by highly effective attackers and Tewaaraton Trophy finalists senior Alyssa Murray and sophomore Kayla Treanor. It‚Äôs not just them, though; the team is absolutely loaded.¬† Coached by former Syracuse star and eternal lacrosse god Gary Gait, the women sought their first-ever NCAA title in both lacrosse and for a Syracuse women‚Äôs sport. It fell for a third time this season to the Maryland Terrapins in the final, 15-12.
The takeaway: The team loses some incredible senior talent, but there’s a lot less parity in NCAA women’s lacrosse. Best new: Treanor still has two years left.
Men’s Lacrosse:
The perennial lax powerhouse (and yes, despite the outcries, it is perennial—if a “five-year title draught” is cause for gray hair, well, that’s some problem to have) had a heartbreaking end to its heart-pounding season. Following a rough 0-3 debut in the ACC, men’s lacrosse really lived up to that #HHH, and were incredibly clutch down the stretch. Faced with the toughest schedule in the country, men’s lax delivered in April and May, but ultimately doomed themselves by sleeping on Bryant University—a play-in for the NCAA tournament—which completely outcoached the Orange at the Dome in the first round. The men went out on the wrong side of notorious upsets this year.
The team returns a loaded roster that includes Tewaaraton finalist snub Kevin Rice and highlight-specialist Randy Staats. There’re also the explosive Hakeem Lecky (who’ll have to learn to finish), attack Dylan Donahue, midfielder Nicky Galasso and defender Brandon Mullins. And let’s not forget heralded freshman Jordan Evans, wearing #22, or Dylan Maltz, kid brother to departed senior Derek Maltz. 
Development at the faceoff X (this especially, with two candidates returning and two recruits coming in) and at goalkeeper will be hot topics throughout the offseason. Bobby Wardwell returns after statistically leading in saves (51.3 percent) between him and departed senior Dominic Lamolinara (48.6 percent). The job’s likely his, but despite being the “closer” goalie, his season didn’t end so well—not a great cloud to have hanging over your head into the offseason.
The takeaway: Syracuse is still talented. But the sport is growing, and parity is inevitable—by the way, all six ACC lacrosse teams made the postseason. So get ready for some serious competition. The days of blink-and-the-men-are-in-the-Final-Four may not be certain anymore, but increased competition is only good for lacrosse—and for anyone who loves sports.
 
The Rest
Cross Country: The men brought home the ACC championship title and head coach Chris Fox was named ACC Coach of the Year. Talk about sprinting to the finish line. The men finished 10th in the NCAA finals—its highest place since 1957, while the women made their fifth-ever appearance, finishing 22nd overall.
Field Hockey: These ladies are beasts, and no one knows it. After dominating the regular season, the women entered the NCAA tournament ranked second overall—but were upset by no. 20 Michigan State in the first round.
Ice Hockey: The ladies had the most successful season in program history (20-14-3), but lost just before the title game in the College Hockey America tournament.
Rowing: The women’s team placed third in the ACC tournament, netting two silver medals and one bronze. The men have been a little less successful this year. Expect middling performances in the last few regattas.
Soccer: The men finished with an okay 10-7-1 overall and a not-so-okay 3-7-1 conference record, and were eliminated from the postseason with their last loss of the season. Individual players and some successful recruiting should keep the Orange in contention next season. The women fared, and fare, similarly, missing the postseason but securing some very talented recruits.
Softball: The ladies fell in the ACC championship quarterfinals after a productive regular season.
Tennis: The women made it to the ACC championship but lost—pretty brutally, too—to Florida State.
Track and Field: Still going strong. The NCAA East preliminaries are up next, and the Orange are sending 18 athletes across 12 events. 
The takeaway: We can’t complain, Syracuse. It couldn’t been really awful. Like, Clemson vs. Syracuse football levels of awful. But we saw some historic play, some new rivalries shape up, some incredible talent showcased, and some surprises along the way. The Orange should look back on its debut year and be proud. Special kudos to cross country—we’ve got our winner. As for the rest, we anxiously await the start of the new academic year.
Posted by: Jillian Thaw
 
779 responses to “How Syracuse Fared in its First ACC Year, from Football through Field Hockey”
I open it then something pops up saying:. . Firefox has stopped working.. Windows can check online for a solution to the problem.. . So can anyone help to fix it?.
From where can I copyright the material on my website content and all and will it be free or cost me anything?.
How can I create a WordPress Theme without installing WordPress on my computer?
Whether you need a dumpster rental for a industrial or residential activity in Pueblo, CO,
the personnel at Kerneli Dumpster Rental will exceed your needs.
Making certain that you lease the perfect dumpster
and that our prices are very aggressive are simply a couple of our targets
used to please customers. After all, we take
even more stress off your enterprise by scheduling the delivery
and decide up of your dumpster round your day’s activities.
Do not wait to offer us a name at 800-330-7410 to discuss your roll off dumpster wants, so we Metropolis of Pueblo website can have one sent to your web site as rapidly
as doable. The great thing is which you could opt for a dumpster rental in Pueblo, which is much more inexpensive than you most likely assume,
and you will never even want to fret about disposing of the debris.
There are several sizes accessible.
I’m wanting to download some videos from various different sites like youtube, Google videos, and a few other sites for my entertainment at home. I’ve downloaded an extension from Media Converter for Firefox, but I don’t see it anywhere. Can someone recommend an extension to allow me to download online videos?.
Where can I find free images?. Which images are usually considered free?. When is it ok to insert a picture from a website?.
Hello? I run a student service oriented website which has a good no of hits. I would like to convert it to a business. Can I register the website itslef as a company or should I start a company and the website should be owned by it? What is the protocol to start a new website company in India? Please explain each stage in detail as I am totally new to this field..
I was curious if you ever considered changing the layout of your site?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so
people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful
lot of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it
out better?
People post links to websites that have (for example) live streaming football and they nearly always have .blogspot. in the link. When I follow these there is just match details and adverts, no football (even when I know the game is being played). Do I need to install something or sign up to something?.
How can I install WordPress without losing all the indexed html pages?
Hi there would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re working with?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different web browsers and I must
say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you suggest a good web hosting provider at a fair price?
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!
Touche. Solid arguments. Keep up the good effort.
Hi, Neat post. There is an issue along with your web
site in web explorer, could test this? IE
nonetheless is the marketplace leader and a good component
to folks will miss your excellent writing due to this problem.
I’ll immediately clutch your rss feed as I can’t to find your email subscription hyperlink
or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly allow me know so that I may
subscribe. Thanks.
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community.
Your web site offered us with useful information to work on. You have done a formidable
job and our entire community shall be grateful to you.
Hey there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re working with?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most.
Can you suggest a good internet hosting provider at a fair price?
Many thanks, I appreciate it!
Hi, I log on to your new stuff daily. Your humoristic style is witty, keep up the good work!
Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you
happen to be a great author. I will make certain to bookmark your blog
and will often come back from now on. I want to encourage continue your great
writing, have a nice evening!
Excellent post. Keep posting such kind of information on your blog.
Im really impressed by your site.
Hi there, You have done an excellent job. I will definitely digg
it and in my view suggest to my friends. I’m sure they will be benefited from this web site.
Remarkable things here. I’m very satisfied to see your article.
Thanks so much and I’m having a look ahead to touch you.
Will you please drop me a e-mail?
If you would like to get much from this paragraph then you have to apply
such methods to your won blog.
USBmemorydirect.com specializes in producing customized usb flash drives for marketing and promotions and has been a leader in the industry for over ten years. Whether you are looking for unique, custom shaped flash drives or our best selling custom printed usb drives, you will find our customer service, product quality and pricing are second to none.
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles?
I mean, what you say is important and all. However just imagine if you added
some great photos or videos to give your posts more, “pop”!
Your content is excellent but with pics and video clips,
this site could definitely be one of the greatest in its niche.
Good blog!
Pretty component of content. I just stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to say that I acquire actually loved account your weblog
posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing in your augment or even I achievement you
access persistently fast.
I’m new to blogging and I am using Tumblr. I want to make sure no one obtains my content or background images and pictures. If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it. Thanks!.
Hi there, this weekend is pleasant in support of me, for the reason that
this moment i am reading this great informative post here at my
house.
Greetings! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community
in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a
wonderful job!
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really
well written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it
and return to read more of your useful information.
Thanks for the post. I’ll definitely comeback.
Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually
know what you’re talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly additionally talk over with my web site
=). We will have a link exchange arrangement between us
I have read so many content about the blogger lovers but this paragraph is genuinely a nice article, keep
it up.
I want to start an anonymous advice blog, will it show up in google search if people try to search their problem?.
Hi there, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was
just curious if you get a lot of spam feedback?
If so how do you protect against it, any plugin or anything you
can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any assistance is
very much appreciated.
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here.
The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish.
nonetheless, you command get bought an edginess over that you wish be delivering the following.
unwell unquestionably come more formerly again as exactly the same nearly very
often inside case you shield this hike.
How do I get traffic to a blog on blogger?. I need people to find my blog via keywords but I can’t find the Webmaster tool on blogger to do this. Or the Sitemap tab that supposedly exists. And how to do feeds. And I don’t understand how I sign up my blog with search engines. Can someone explain this to a beginner as myself? I’m entering a blog contest partly judged on comments left on the page, so getting the traffic there is important..
How do I change the background on my blogspot including sidebars?
Hello colleagues, pleasant article and nice urging commented at this place, I am
genuinely enjoying by these.
Are you aware the USSR was shot at not simply propaganda? Quite useless, some movies have gained the Oscar, many people later 30-40-50 years seeking with these shows of distinct types from Comedy and satisfaction to misfortune.
Hi, I do think this is an excellent blog.
I stumbledupon it 😉 I am going to come back once again since I book-marked it.
Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to help others.
If some one wishes to be updated with hottest technologies then he must be pay a visit this site and be up to date every
day.
Neat blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog jump out.
Please let me know where you got your design. Many thanks
Right away I am ready to do my breakfast, once having my breakfast coming again to read more
news.
This blog was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped
me. Kudos!
This site definitely has all of the information and facts
I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Hi there! Quick question that’s entirely off topic.
Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
My blog looks weird when browsing from my iphone4.
I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this issue.
If you have any recommendations, please share.
Thank you!
I always emailed this webpage post page to all my friends, as if like to read
it next my links will too.
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
Hello, I desire to subscribe for this website to get most up-to-date updates, thus where can i do it
please help out.
Unquestionably believe that which you stated.
Your favorite reason appeared to be on the web the simplest thing
to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get irked while
people consider worries that they plainly do not know about.
You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out
the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal.
Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
Just wish to say your article is as amazing. The clarity on your put up is
simply spectacular and that i can think you are a professional on this subject.
Well along with your permission let me to grasp your RSS feed to stay
updated with forthcoming post. Thank you 1,000,000 and please
carry on the gratifying work.
How do you copyright content on your site (Webcomic specifically)?